OpenRAW

Thirty years ago, when word processors started to replace IBM golf-ball typewriters as the normal method of writing scientific papers, they all used proprietary formats. Together with a colleague, I wrote a hefty textbook which was typed on one of these machines. When we came to do a second edition, we had to have the complete text scanned and use OCR software because we could no longer access the original digital files. The same could happen to today's digital negatives in a few years, unless camera makers have the foresight and common sense to publish their RAW formats. If this does not happen, photographic history will end with the invention of the digital camera.
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http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~rod